Tickets in advance: $7 for soup, bread and beverage or $12 for soup, bread, beverage and local handmade bowl. Tickets can be purchased in advance at ECHO, 65 S. High St., Janesville, or online at echojanesville.org.

Tickets at the door: $10 for soup, bread and beverage and $15 for soup, bread, beverage and handmade bowl at the door. VIP lunches cost $25. To-go bowls of soup are $3 each.

For more information: Call ECHO at 608-754-5333.

JANESVILLE—A hot bowl of soup is comforting on a cold, fall day.

That's probably one reason Empty Bowls, a fundraiser for ECHO, has become so popular.

Four hundred people attended the first-time event in 2011, 600 turned out last year, and organizers are expecting even more at this year's event Saturday, Oct. 26, at Parker High School.

Those attending will be treated to 35 varieties of soups prepared by chefs from local restaurants. Among the returning eateries will be six new restaurants: The Fireside, The Edgewater, Moose Club, Quaker Steak and Lube, Time Out Pub & Eatery and Aglio, said Fran Brien, Everyone Cooperating to Help Others volunteer coordinator.

Time Out owner Brian Cherry recently was stirring up a big kettle of his homemade ham and bean soup for customers. He plans to prepare a three-gallon pot for Empty Bowls.

“It's one of the soups that really goes well down here,” he said of his downtown pub and eatery.

Cherry explained why he's willing to invest some time and money into making the soup.

“We try to do good things like this as much as we possibly can to give back a little bit,” he said.

Kwik Trip on West Court Street is donating milk, E&D Water Works is donating water, and Starbucks is donating coffee. Other sponsors include Beloit Pottery, Rock Green Realtors, Fuddruckers, Italian House, The Realty Group and Title Team.

“Each one of these restaurants brings a unique soup to the mix that make it fun to come and try out,” Brien said.

Proceeds will benefit ECHO, where leaders hope to resume transportation and emergency lodging services cut in July and August, she said.

“This is a very important fundraiser for ECHO to be able to keep providing services because right now there is not enough money to provide gas cards or bus tokens,” Brien said.

Event goers will be treated to musical entertainment, she said, and can pay 25 cents to vote for their favorite soups.